On Saturday, August 9, Monroe UB Church (Monroe, Ind.) is taking a chartered bus to the Creation Museum and would like to invite others to attend. They have 20-25 seats available on the 55-seat bus.

The cost is $45 per person (include museum ticket and bus seat). The bus leaves at 7 a.m. The Creation Museum is located in Petersburg, Kent.

To reserve your seat, you’ll need to send a check to the Monroe UB Church with Creation Museum in the memo line.

Monroe UB Church
205 South Adams Street
Monroe, IN   46772

L-r: Kim Fish, Phil Whipple, Michelle Blocher, and Matt Graham.

L-r: Kim Fish, Phil Whipple, Michelle Blocher, and Matt Graham.

Michelle Blocher and her husband, Tim.

Michelle Blocher and her husband, Tim.

On Sunday, April 6, Bishop Phil Whipple attended Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to presented United Brethren ministerial licenses to three members of the staff.

Michelle Blocher, pastor of Early Childhood Ministries at Emmanuel, was ordained as a United Brethren minister. She has served on staff at Emmanuel since 2004. Michelle and her husband, Tim, were married in 1979 and have one child.

Bishop Whipple presented the provisional license, the entry-level denominational license, to two persons. The

  • Kim Fish, director of Women’s Ministries at Emmanuel. Kim and her husband, Steve, previously pastored the Shoreline UB church in Oak Harbor, Ohio. Kim is the daughter of Kent and Carol Maxwell, who served several decades in United Brethren ministry.
  • Matt Graham, a pastoral intern at Emmanuel since September 2013. Matt is completing his Masters of Ministry degree through Bethel University (Mishawaka, Ind.).

The College Park team. Senior pastor Gary Dilley is in front, second from the right.

The College Park team. Senior pastor Gary Dilley is in front, second from the right.

A group from College Park Church (Huntington, Ind.) spent March 28 – April 5 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The team included senior pastor Gary Dilley.

College Park has a long-standing relationship with missionaries Dennis and Deb Osberg, who are involved in the leadership of Academia Los Pinares, a bilingual school in Tegucigalpa. Many families in the capital, including unchurches families, take advantage of the excellent education offered by the school. The education is from a Christian biblical perspective.

Many of the teachers at Academia Los Pinares are young professionals, including some recent Huntington University graduates. Part of the team did professional development for those teachers.

The Osbergs are also involved with an inner-city church reaching out to its community. Another part of the College Park team assisting in this church’s daily feeding program and investment in neighborhood families.

Huntington University won an agriculture contest. Actually, it was a public relations contest, but it involved agriculture–a marketing/PR campaign to promote agriculture to young-adult Hoosiers (ages 18-35).

HU’s team, named “Hoosier Grown,” was among 30 teams from 17 Indiana colleges that submitted entries in the contest. The 30 teams were winnowed down to three finalists, who made presentations at the Statehouse.

And Huntington won with their proposal, which includes a new brand image, an integrated social-media marketing plan, and an increase in awareness of the agriculture economy and opportunities. The two runners-up were the University of Indianapolis and the University of Southern Indiana.

They won money, too. Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann presented a $25,000 check to the team–$10,000 for Huntington University, the rest to be divided among the seven student team members–four seniors, one junior, and two sophomores.

Dr. Ann McPherren (right) led the HU team, which included a mix of majors–public relations, film production, business administration and marketing, graphic design, animation, and biology pre-med. Some of the team members grew up on or currently work on farms and were members of 4-H or active in the FFA. One team member serves as his county’s membership chairman for the Indiana Farm Bureau.

The prize money came from outside sponsors, including Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Elanco, and Indiana Farm Bureau.

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Bishop Phil Whipple issued a challenge to United Brethren ministers–to fill out an NCAA March Madness bracket in a special group for UB ministers on ESPN.com. A total of 68 people–mostly ministers, with a few missionaries and national office staff thrown in–signed on.

After the first two rounds, and as we begin the Sweet 16, the lone leader is Jim Bolich, senior pastor of Prince Street UB church in Shippensburg, Pa. Tied for second place are Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries; and Kevin Poole, Children’s Pastor at Fowlerville UB church (Fowlerville, Mich.).

Scott Stephens, director of Camp Cotubic (Bellefontaine, Ohio), provided this update on Tuesday about his father, retired UB minister Dave Stephens (right).

“Dad was admitted into the hospital at Ohio State and is still there. He had gone in on Monday for his last radiation treatment on his hip when his doctor became concerned with his skin and eye coloring. Changing or yellowing of the skin and eyes is a sign of issues in the liver, which the doctor had told us we’d need to keep an eye on throughout chemo treatments. They did a CT scan today (Tuesday) and are going to do an MRI late tonight looking at his liver. We should know the results in the morning.

“This could be one of many different things with worst case being the cancer has spread to his liver. If that’s the case, it’s a game changer. Needless to say, we’re very concerned and praying this isn’t the case. We’re concerned but not worried! We know who holds Dad in the palm of his hand!”

Dave’s mailing address:

David Stephens
2158 Road 25 North
Bellefontaine, OH 43311

You can also leave a note on his Facebook page.

At the McCallum water table.

At the McCallum water table.

One of the more interesting bicyclists who stopped at the church.

One of the more interesting bicyclists who stopped at the church.

Ron Watterly, senior pastor, McCallum UB (Delton, Mich.)

On Saturday, March 22, the folks at McCallum provided peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and water to the participants of the Barry-Roubaix Killer Gravel Road Race, the largest gravel road bicycle race in the USA. The race consisted of three courses–62 miles, 36 miles, and 24 miles. Both the 62-mile and 36-mile passed in front of the church, giving the brave souls of the congregation opportunity to cheer the riders on and offer refreshments, bathroom facilities, and a place to warm up if desired.

Ladies of the Women’s Missionary Fellowship came early and made up 180 PB&J sandwiches. Eight gallons of bulk water was given to fill water bottles of the riders, plus bottled water was available as well.

The quote of the day came from Nichole Parish of the congregation, who said on her Facebook page, “Being the hands of Jesus handing out water and sandwiches to the bike riders today at our church. It’s moments like this that being part of a small church that gives Big is awesome!”

Rev. Mike Brown, pastor of Franklin UB church (New Albany, Ohio), is mourning the death of his mother. Pearl Buck passed away March 20, 2014, in Columbus, Ohio.

Arrangements are as follows:

Visitation: Sunday, March 23, 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm
Funeral: Monday, March 24, 11 am.
Visitation and funeral location: Rader-McDonald Funeral Home, 1355 W Main, West Jefferson, Ohio.

Mike has pastored Franklin UB church since 1989. He is also a cluster leader and serves on the Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team. Condolences can be sent to:

Michael R. Brown
7171 Central College Road
New Albany, OH 43054
Email: [email protected]

The Horizon Scholarship recipients. L-r: Allison Amstutz, Jessica Bombino, Leah Ness, Hannah Priskorn, and Selina Poh.

The Horizon Scholarship recipients. L-r: Allison Amstutz, Jessica Bombino, Leah Ness, Hannah Priskorn, and Selina Poh.

Five incoming Huntington University freshmen have been awarded the Horizon Leadership Scholarship for the 2014-2015 academic year.

  • Allison Amstutz, of Berne, Ind., plans to major in nursing.
  • Jessica Bombino, of St. John, Ind., plans to be a youth ministries major.
  • Leah Ness, of Huntington, Ind., plans to study accounting.
  • Hannah Priskorn, of Auburn, Ind., plans to be a psychology major.
  • Selina Pohl, of Lansing, Mich., plans to be a nursing major.

A collaboration between Huntington University and Youth for Christ, the Horizon Leadership Scholarship was begun in 2008 to attract and retain students of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The scholarship covers the recipient’s tuition and room-and-board for up to 10 semesters. This is made possible through a blend of federal, state, and institutional aid. Recipients are required to achieve and uphold a standard of academic performance, community service, and spiritual and social growth.

Brent Liechty (left) speaking as other gather around Scott Hardaway.

Brent Liechty (left) speaking as other gather around Scott Hardaway.

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Brent Liechty (right), senior pastor, Pathway Community Church (Jackson, Mich.)

On Sunday, March 16, Pathway Community Church paid tribute to its former pastor, Scott Hardaway.

Todd Fetters, director of National Ministries, came to speak and kick-off our new series, “All For Christ.” He did an excellent job. Then we had a special lunch to honor Scott Hardaway, who was the senior pastor here from 2005 to November 2013.

In October 2012, Scott’s wife, Tanya, passed away soon after being diagnosed with cancer. Scott realized he could no longer be both a single dad and a pastor, so he resigned. Pastor Scott worked hard to lead with integrity and passion, and to love the congregation to become All For Christ.

Many people shared stories of how their lives were changed through Scott’s time here at PCC. He was presented a scrapbook filled with pages from people within our church, with pictures, letters, and more stories for him to remember his time with us fondly. We finished by having past and present elders lay hands on Scott and pray over him.

Scott is currently working towards a paralegal degree at Baker College, and will take his two boys to summer with his parents in Washington State.

I’m very proud to have worked with Scott as his associate pastor. We were a good team. He has changed me for the better in so many ways.